Curtain falls on LG tourney with "battles of pride'"

The exciting but controversial LG Top Four Tourney which has dominated the Ghanaian soccer scene lately would wrap up this weekend at the Accra Sports Stadium with two encounters between Liberty Professionals and Accra Great Olympics on Saturday and Accra Hearts of Oak and arch-rivals Kumasi Asante Kotoko on Sunday.

The tourney has been exciting for followers of Kotoko due to the impressive performance put up by their club while fans of Hearts have experienced bitter moments as their side registered two straight defeats at the hands of Kotoko and Liberty Professionals.

With the ultimate prize already won by runaway leaders, Kotoko the battles lined up for this week would only have PRIDE and REPUTATION as the bone of contention.

The clash between Liberty and Olympics is one match in which the former would seek to add to the woes of the "dade boys" who have lost all their five matches played so far in the tourney, while the later would be seeking revenge to erase the memories of the 4-0 drubbing they had from their foes in the first round and to redefine their pride which has been so badly dented by their poor showing in the series.

The only solution to the plight of the "dade boys" is a victory over Liberty. But whether Coach Abdul Aziz has the technical acumen to counteract that of good old Sir Cecil Jones Attuquayefio remains the big question.

The soccer professionals who lost to Kotoko last Wednesday would like to make amends by banking on the youthful exuberance of Asamoah Gyan, George Yamoah with support from Alfred Nii Larbi upfront to worsen the plight of Olympics.

Joe "Bobby Short" Tagoe, Amui Quaye, and John Cudjoe could sign the appointment letter of stand-in coach Abdul Aziz by deflating the Liberty resistance to give their fans a peaceful and gleeful end to the competition.

A tough match is anticipated.

Twenty-four hours after the penultimate match, "the senior prefects" Hearts and Kotoko would clash in a similar battle of pride and reputation to draw the curtains on the month-long tourney.

Already on 15 points from five games Kotoko are unofficial champions of the competition but going by the rivalry between them and Accra Hearts of Oak, the Porcupine Warriors would like to complete the double over Hearts who would have to restore some confidence in their army of supporters with a massive victory.

Kotoko, for some years now have found the Accra Sports Stadium an unfavourable breeding grounds in matches against Hearts, but the trend seems to over as Coach Abdul Razak appears to have found an antidote to their problems and their fans are already talking about their first league title in 10 years.

In their first match in Kumasi, Coach Razak proved to cynics that his defeat over Hearts in the 2002 champions League with Stade Malien was no fluke when he handed them a 2-0 defeat at the Kumasi Sports Stadium and has indicated his readiness to repeat the dose.

But the big question is whether Hearts are in the mood to swallow another bitter pill especially at a time when the tenure of the management members of the club is at stake, following the teams poor showing in the tourney, while Coach Herbert Addo' job is also in danger.

With a rock solid defence featuring Joe Hendricks, Dan Acquah, Aziz Ansah and Godfred Yeboah, Coach Razak has the men to put the brakes on Emmanuel Osei Kuffour, Wisdom Abbey, Massawudu Mumuni and off-colour Bernard Don Bortey.

On the other hand, the weak midfield engine of Hearts would find it difficult to battle with a set of new generation of midfielders in Kotoko pivoted around Eddy Owusu-Ansah of Feyenood, in-form Micheal Asante and Yusif Chibsah of Olympics and King Faisal fame respectively.

But the return of petit Charles Allotey and Adjah Tetteh in Hearts midfield would bring some stability in their midfield but would have to do extra work together with Dan Quaye, Kwabena Boafo Amankwaa Mireku and Dan Oppong in defence to contain the ever-improving attack of Kotoko led by Isaac Boakye, Steven Oduro and Michael Osei who have so far scored 10 goals in the tourney.

However an expected come back of controversial wizard dribbler Charles Taylor in the Hearts attack would bring some hope in the Hearts attack and possibly conjure a magic for the long suffering phobians.

Taylor is however reported to be in dilemma as to which club to feature for this season since Kotoko are said to be convincing the player with a mouth-watering signing on fee, while Hearts are in no mood to release the player for any amount.

A critical look at the tactical play of Hearts and Kotoko will reveal that, the latter is far ahead and a second victory for them is assured but trust the phobians to fight till their bones are rotten in order to restore their image as the champion club in the country.

As always expected, matches between the two sides attract so much arguments from their followers irrespective of their form of the clubs but with everything set for the "second world war" PRIDE would be the determining factor.